


Through the Fog

by Veresiine



Series: The Home Front & Sequels [3]
Category: MapleStory
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, anyway Phantom doesn't show up until Chapter 5 but he's there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-14 08:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17504825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veresiine/pseuds/Veresiine
Summary: Luminous and Mercedes aren't keen on falling in with the rest of the Alliance forces during the final assault with the Black Mage, but they don't have much of a choice. Loosely follows the events of the Moonbridge update. Set after The Home Front. Contains some OC shenanigans.I won't lie, I see this piece as pretty mediocre, but it has to exist to set up the events that will happen later on in the series.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This starts off a little slowly, so please bear with me! The plot should pick up by Chapter 3 or so.

Luminous heard footsteps coming up behind him on the deck. He pulled his hood down so he could hear better as he turned toward the source of the noise. When he saw that it was Mercedes and not one of the crew members, he let his shoulders drop.

  
"There you are. I've been looking for you." Mercedes stepped up to the railing next to him.

  
"Is something the matter?"

  
"Nothing major, no. We just haven't had much of a chance to chat." That much was true. It felt like, ever since they had left Elluel to join the Alliance fleet, they had either been busy or surrounded by people. Mercedes sighed and looked out over the railing at the swirling currents of Erda. "Finally, some peace and quiet."

  
"I presume everyone else is sleeping? With the exception of whoever is piloting, of course."

  
"I'm pretty sure we have the ship to ourselves for a few hours."

  
"Do you happen to know who is at the helm at present?"

  
"The corsair -- I think her name was Roxy? -- is. Why do you ask?"

  
"I do not trust the battle mage."

  
"I can see where you're coming from. I'd trust a pirate over a magician to pilot a ship any day, but apparently they've worked together as a team for years." Luminous was going to mention that it was more of a matter of personality than class, but he decided it wasn't a discussion worth having. "... You don't look happy."

  
"Why would I? We finally have our chance to strike at the Black Mage, but we've been ordered onto a ship with a half-dozen..." he wanted to say "incompetents," but the ship's crew had come recommended by Neinheart, so he searched for another word. "... _Children_ who do not take this mission seriously."

  
"If you're talking about the two younger Cygnus Knights, I'm sure they understand the gravity of the situation. They're just using laughter as a weapon against fear. Some people cope that way."

  
"They still have not seen the Black Mage's power firsthand like we have, and so cannot truly grasp what they are up against."

  
"Fair point."

  
"... Aren't you bothered, as well? Taking the fight to the Black Mage with these people by our side?" Luminous knew Mercedes had been worried about the potential casualties from sending younger and less experienced fighters up against the greatest evil the Maple World had ever faced.

  
"A little bit. I just don't like how they split us up."

  
"Well, we are on the same ship --"

  
"Yes, but everyone else isn't. And I understand the strategic value of spreading out our most powerful fighters across the fleet, but I... miss the other heroes."

  
"I'd rather work alone, but if I must go into battle with others, I'd... prefer our old company to these people." With the possible exception of Phantom, of course.

  
"We can agree on that, at least. And at least we know our loved ones are safe."

  
"This is true." Luminous could only hope that the barrier was holding, and that Vieren and Philius could sustain it. Even if they couldn't, he had heard that Athena Pierce was in charge of organizing Maple World's defenses, and he was certain that she would relegate appropriate support to Victoria Island and especially her former home of Elluel.

  
"And at least, here, if something does happen... they're not civilians. They're all here because they want to be. Even if two of them are noncombatants, they know the risks."

  
"Which two?"

  
"The temple keeper and the engineer."

  
"I thought Resistance mechanics were --"

  
"He's quite insistent he's an _engineer_ , not a mechanic." Mercedes paused. "And I'm also pretty sure he's not a member of the Resistance. He seems awfully cozy with the Cygnus Knights."

  
"Regardless, why go into battle if they cannot or will not fight?"

  
"Listen, I feel the same way, but they each have roles to play. This isn't just the fi -- six of us anymore. Things work differently with an army than with a small team."

  
"And we are in need of more help, yet it seems so... cumbersome."

  
"I couldn't agree more, but here we are." Luminous found he had nothing more to contribute, so he fell silent and turned his attention back to his surroundings.

  
Without his hood on, the wind through his hair was pleasantly cool. Mercedes let go of the railing with one hand to idly stream some of the passing Erda around her wrist before letting it go. Even if he was stuck on a ship full of strangers, he could at least take comfort in Mercedes' presence.

  
They stood there for several minutes before Mercedes spoke again.

  
"Have you thought about what will happen when it's over?"

  
"I must confess I have not." Luminous hadn't given it much thought the first time they faced the Black Mage, and he didn't *want* to think about it now that he knew his origins. "Have you?"

  
"Part of me wants things to go back to the way they once were before he started this madness, but it seems so long ago now. So many people have come and gone..." Her expression and the slight break in her voice told Luminous that she was probably thinking about Freud with that last sentence. It hurt, but he didn't know how much of that hurt was his own grief, how much of it was jealousy, and how much of it was genuine sympathy. He gripped the rail tighter. "And the landscape has changed. Victoria is so full of humans now."

  
"It is." He thought of both the Aurora Great Temple and of Lania's home, and felt a wave of unease at the idea of new settlements eating away at the woodlands around them. Perhaps that was how Mercedes felt, as well.

  
"I can't just block them out. Not after I've already allowed so many Cygnus Knights in. And all the new trade back and forth as well." Mercedes seemed to be talking to herself as much as to him.

  
"And visitors?"

  
"Visitors have been mostly friends, who are always welcome." Mercedes sighed. "I know I shouldn't be thinking about this. I need my mind in the here and now. The battle's not won yet, but I keep thinking." Of course she was. She was an elf, of course it was in her nature to think of the long-term, when she wasn't caught up in the heat of battle or with her temper. "So what about you? I know you and Lania were going to rebuild, but beyond that...?"

  
"I do not know. I'm not even entirely sure what the Black Mage's death might mean for me, as --" Luminous gave a quick scan of his surroundings to be _sure_ they were alone before continuing "-- a former part of him. It's unlikely I'd... cease to exist as well, as a result. I am my own person."

  
"You _are_." Mercedes was reassuring but firm. He supposed she thought he was doubting himself and his identity again. He wasn't, but he appreciated her concern nonetheless.

  
"But I worry there might be consequences with my powers."

  
"Well, you've faced much worse, haven't you? When you were first starting out again?"

  
"I don't want it to happen again. We've discussed this. There is so much I don't know. The Transcendence Stone, the Black Mage himself... I am no danger as I am now, but I don't want to hurt --" the word 'you' died on his lips.

  
"Luminous, we've been over this, and I've made my opinions on the matter clear. I thought we put it behind us."

  
"I will admit I've been trying not to think about it."

  
"Well, if that's what it takes to keep you focused..." Mercedes sighed, and they slipped into silence again, but this one was a bit less comfortable. "You know, I am grateful we had that chance to spar," she said, after a pause. Luminous winced. He had _just_ been thinking about not wanting to hurt Mercedes, and now she was bringing up a time he _had_ , even if it hadn't been serious, and she had left a few marks on him, as well.

  
"Why is that?" Luminous asked, trying to keep his tone even and his face neutral.

  
"Because now he has both powers, like you do." Just because Luminous was more confident in his identity as a separate person did not mean he was comfortable being reminded of just how similar he was to the Black Mage. But he didn't want to stop or derail a potentially constructive conversation, so he held his tongue and tried not to let his discomfort show. "So I'll be better prepared." The wind was starting to feel cold rather than pleasantly cool. "And Phantom should have some idea, too, after your fight in --" Phantom was the last straw.

  
"I do not wish to discuss this."

  
"Right. Sensitive subject." Mercedes leaned forward over the rail. "I just hope that, someday, you can find peace with it." That was not at all where he expected the conversation to go. Perhaps there was something in her own life that prompted it and she was projecting onto him. He wanted to ask, but didn't want to pry. Moreover, he was still on-edge from the train the conversation had taken mere moments ago, and didn't trust himself to be diplomatic.

  
"I doubt I'll ever find any peace."

  
"That may change when we kill the Black Mage."

  
"Will you find peace in killing him?"

  
"I don't know. I'll have my revenge and it will feel good, but peace? Peace will be when the land is mended and the grieving and wounded are tended to. It could be days. Weeks. Months. Years. Decades. I don't know. He's done so much." Luminous could hear the heartbreak in her voice toward the end, and thought again how Mercedes _was_ her people. Wounds to them were wounds to her. She was a great ruler, compassionate and truly connected to her subjects with their best interests in mind, but when it caused her this much pain, was it worth it? It hurt him too, to see her like that. Luminous knew he had a deep bond with Lania, but Mercedes had that kind of bond with an entire _people_ , and his heart ached for her.

  
Fate willing, he would make the Black Mage pay for both their pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, for those curious, I *do* have a plan, and this is what the series is going to look like:
> 
> The Home Front (Gathering of Heroes/Prelude of War)  
> Canon: Compliant?  
> Angst-o-meter: 6/10  
> OC shenanigans: None  
> Status: Complete!
> 
> The Home Front - Bonus Chapter  
> Canon: Compliant?  
> Angst-o-meter: 1/10  
> OC shenanigans: None  
> Status: Complete!
> 
> Through the Fog (Moonbridge)  
> Canon: Loosely followed  
> Angst-o-meter: 4/10  
> OC shenanigans: Medium  
> Status: Writing in progress
> 
> ??? (Labyrinth)  
> Canon: Very loosely followed  
> Angst-o-meter: 9/10  
> OC shenanigans: Low  
> Status: 70% outlined
> 
> ??? (Limina)  
> Canon: Hurled into the sun  
> Angst-o-meter: Probably 10/10  
> OC shenanigans: Very low  
> Status: 30% outlined


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies in advance for this chapter. There weren't supposed to be this many OC shenanigans, and the plot still won't really pick up until Chapter 3. That said, this chapter has to happen to set up other things later down the line, so here it is.

Mercedes leaned over the railing, as if the few centimeters' difference in distance would make the markings on the other ships in the fleet easier to see. It didn't help, of course, but because she didn't feel like going back inside to grab binoculars or a scope, she would simply have to settle for what little she could make out.

  
The ship flying closest to them had the mark of the Nova people on it, though the ship itself still had the same design as most of the rest of Cygnus's fleet. She wondered if one of the Nova heroes was on that ship, and, if so, which one. She supposed she would find out the next time monsters attacked, if she could spare some time to look over at the other ship.

  
It bothered her, not knowing exactly where everyone was in the fleet formation. She didn't strictly _need_ to know, but she would have felt better if she did. Filling her mind with relevant, if trivial information felt better than standing around being worried and impatient.

  
She worried about the situation as a whole, of course, but especially in the past day or two, she had been concerned about Luminous. Even though the battle for Elluel had been over two weeks ago, he was still a bit slow and sometimes moved as if it hurt him. Beyond that, he seemed to spend most of his free time sleeping. He was still pulling his weight, of course, and fighting almost at his usual level, and always said he was fine when asked, but they couldn't afford _any_ weakness when the time came to fight the Black Mage himself.

  
She doubted the rest of the crew had noticed, thankfully. Perhaps they assumed that the time he spent to himself was spent working rather than sleeping. At the very least, she hadn't heard any of them mention any sort of worry, and since they seemed to be a loose-lipped lot, she doubted there was anything going on behind the scenes.

  
On that note, she was nearly certain she could hear some of them talking about her right then.

  
"Come on, Verk, if you're that worried, just ask Mercedes." Mercedes hadn't learned to recognize the crew members by voice yet, but since it was a clearly male voice, it belonged to either the engineer, the thunder breaker, or the older dawn warrior.

  
"I am _not_ worried! Besides, even if I were, I _can't_." Mercedes couldn't remember if Verk was the name of the temple keeper or the younger dawn warrior, but it was one of the two.

  
"Well, why not?" the first voice asked.

  
"Well, she's the Queen of the Elves, for one, and this is probably below her notice and all --" Verk started.

  
"Authority has never stopped you before," a third voice, lower than the first one, grumbled.

  
"--And she's always busy or around Luminous, and, well, you know how I am." Verk gave a bitter chuckle.

  
"Yeah, you're incapable of interacting with magicians without picking a fight," the first voice said.

  
"You should really work on that," the third voice said.

  
"At this point it's her only defining personality trait, Rataalis. So why bother?"

  
"Come on, Revenis, I really don't need this right now," Verk complained.

  
"Yeah, so just ask her, she's right there, no magicians in sight," the first voice, Revenis, said. Mercedes turned her head just in time to see Revenis -- the thunder breaker -- give Verk -- the younger dawn warrior -- a slight shove forward in Mercedes' direction. Meanwhile, the older dawn warrior stood behind them and was looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

  
"You can talk to me," Mercedes said. The last thing she wanted was any gossip getting out of hand. It would be better to nip this problem -- whatever it was -- in the bud.

  
"Oh, um, hi, Queen Mercedes!" That wasn't quite the proper term of address, but Mercedes didn't feel like correcting her. "I'm sorry, and I understand if you don't know, but I have an... acquaintance --"

  
"Girlfriend," Revenis interjected, then covered it with a cough when Verk glared.

  
"-- Who was stationed in Elluel. I haven't heard back from her in weeks." Mercedes suddenly felt a wave of dread. She _thought_ she had personally sent out or at least ordered out news and condolences sent to the relatives and loved ones of all the fallen Cygnus Knights, but what if there had been a paperwork error and she had missed one?

  
"I'll need a name and a description." Mercedes tried to keep her voice level. She wasn't briefed on this, wasn't expecting it, and it probably wouldn't be proper to deliver news this way, but she wanted the team to work effectively, and she didn't want anyone to be left without closure.

  
"Knight-Captain Telaina. Blaze Wizard. Long black hair. Green eyes. Insists on wearing a green scarf over her uniform," Verk started.

  
"Even if it's a fire hazard," Revenis added.

  
"She _is_ a fire hazard. And a terrible influence," Rataalis grumbled, then added under his breath, "I'm glad she's gone."

  
"Rataalis, shut up. You're the reason she got reassigned and split up from us in the first place!" Mercedes pinched the bridge of her nose. She had wanted to nip the problem in the bud, but apparently this wasn't the start of a problem, it was a giant festering sore that had almost nothing to do with her. She liked to think she was a problem-solver, but she definitely didn't want to be a babysitter.

  
"If only command had listened and reassigned _you_ , too," Rataalis muttered. Mercedes had been told enough times that pulling out her weapons on allies wouldn't do any good, but maybe facing down arrows would scare some sense into the two dawn warriors.

  
"Enough." Mercedes had been just about to draw her bowguns when the temple keeper stepped in. All three knights immediately stood at attention.

  
"Sorry, Eres," they chorused. Mercedes couldn't help but wonder how a temple keeper had ended up with that level of authority over a group of Cygnus Knights.

  
"I apologize, Your Majesty," the temple keeper, Eres, told Mercedes, bowing her head slightly.

  
"Don't worry about it." She was slightly less inclined to trust the judgment and maturity of the Cygnus Knights after the exchange, but as long as Eres was there to keep them in line, there wouldn't be any problems. She forced her temper down and tried to return to the matter at hand. Even if Verk was a belligerent idiot, no one deserved to go without closure.

  
To the best of her knowledge, only one blaze wizard had been killed during the battles, and she was nearly certain it had been a man. That said, after the second battle, she _did_ remember going to visit the wounded, and one of them had been a blaze wizard matching the description Verk had given, with the obvious exception of the scarf. Mercedes turned her attention to Verk, who swallowed nervously.

  
"Telaina is alive, that I know. But there was someone matching her description who was injured. I can't say it's her; she could very well be fine, but... if you have not heard from her, that may be why." Mercedes wished she had better news, but there was nothing she could do about it.

  
"Thank you, Your Majesty."

  
"There, now can you stop worrying and focus on writing up that report?" Rataalis asked. Verk muttered something in reply, but Mercedes didn't catch it. Her mind was back on Elluel. She couldn't help but wonder if her people really would be safe. She trusted Athena, and she trusted the barrier that the members of Aurora -- plus Philius and Evan -- had set up, but the fact that there had been so many casualties before the situation had gotten under control worried her. If things could go so wrong so quickly, how much power did she have, really? And now Elluel was without even what power she brought.

  
"Is that all?" Mercedes asked the knights.

  
"Yes, ma'am," Verk and Revenis replied.

  
"Good." Mercedes walked past them and made her way to her room, letting her thoughts swirl and storm.

  
The more she thought about Elluel, the worse she felt. No matter how well the barrier held and no matter how well Athena mobilized Victoria's defenses, her people were still going to fear and suffer until the Black Mage was stopped once and for all. And, far away, there was nothing she could do about it.

  
She had thought she could leave Elluel behind to fight the Black Mage as she had hundreds of years ago, now that the barrier was in place, but now, doubt was creeping into her mind again.

  
She wanted to have something to fight so she could feel useful, but so far, the only monsters they had encountered had been weak. Perhaps there were more powerful monsters in the fog up ahead, but she didn't know, and wouldn't know for at least a few hours.

  
She wanted to be doing _something_ , even if it was just fighting monsters and not the Black Mage himself. After all, fighting monsters was still chipping away at the Black Mage's resources and energy. It was only a problem if he was wearing them out faster than they were wearing him out.

  
Unfortunately, she would have no way of _knowing_ which side was being exhausted. She felt like Neinheart had been stingy with his information, and she resented it. Not only that, over communications, he had been treating her as just another elite fighter.

  
What had happened to when Empress Cygnus recognized her as a fellow, albeit lesser, sovereign?

  
Mercedes was the ruler of the elves and one of the legendary heroes. She didn't want to bow to the Alliance; she was willing to cooperate and lend her strength, but she was more than just another asset. She recognized Cygnus's authority -- the Maple World was greater than Elluel, of course -- but that didn't mean it didn't chafe at her pride.

  
It felt like the Empress's new champion was taking center stage with everything while Mercedes was stuck on a ship with -- well at least Luminous was there -- but strangers. Even if she understood the Cygnus Knights on the ship better now after that unpleasant conversation, they were not the people she had spent so much time with.

  
All she had to do was look at the reactions the knights had to the temple keeper compared to the reactions they had had to her.

  
They respected her, yes, and seemed intimidated by her, but they didn't have that level of _trust_ in following her that they had with the temple keeper. Even if Mercedes was 'ma'am' and 'Your Majesty' and not addressed simply by her first name as Eres was, it wasn't the same.

  
She felt out of place in an existing group dynamic.

  
She supposed she couldn't blame Luminous for spending so much of his time in his room, then. He tended to not adapt as well to new social situations as she did, so if she felt out of place, he probably felt much worse.

  
Of course, isolating herself wouldn't make things any better. The question was, would it be better to reach out and learn to work with these people, or should she bide her time?

  
After all, once they were off the ships and fighting the Black Mage himself, nothing was going to stop Mercedes from challenging him with Luminous and the other heroes at her side.


	3. Chapter 3

Luminous couldn't help but think that it was a shame their ship had been spared the first major monster attack on the fleet. He was getting impatient and wanted to fight, and he knew Mercedes felt similarly. She had seemed particularly antsy and irritable in the past few hours, and he doubted it was because she was worried about the fog coming up ahead.

  
No, something was wrong, and he was nearly certain that Mercedes knew it too. Most of the monsters they had been facing had been weak. Luminous wondered if the Black Mage was just playing with them. Perhaps he was sending weaker monsters to attack the fleet to give the less experienced Alliance members a false sense of security and lead them into a trap.

  
Luminous didn't know if the crew suspected they were being tricked, but they had at least handled themselves well enough against the weaker monsters. He and Mercedes had so far been taking out most of the monsters at range before the knights and the battle mage even had a chance to fight, but the few who had gotten through had been quickly dispatched.

  
He wondered if the crew would be an asset or a liability by the time they reached stronger foes. By the sound of it, he would find out soon enough.

  
Some ships in the fleet had already entered the fog, and the White Spear had relayed their reports to the ships farther behind in the fleet. They had been told to expect communications to have some difficulty, and that some ships reported being attacked by chains, eyes, and powerful monsters.

  
Luminous was more than ready to face those dangers. While it was true that he was still a bit sore, he was in better shape than Aran had been when they had last challenged the Black Mage, so he figured he would be fine. After all, this wasn't the battle with the Black Mage himself yet.

  
Luminous looked over at Mercedes, who was standing next to him at the bow of the ship. She looked wary, but her jaw was set in determination. It seemed she expected a tough battle. When she noticed him looking at her, she returned his gaze and gave him a sharp nod.

  
The battle mage and the Cygnus Knights were also out on the deck in anticipation of a fight, and had positioned themselves behind the two heroes. Only the corsair, the temple keeper, and the engineer were inside. Luminous heard someone yawn, and turned to glare at the battle mage, who was rubbing their eyes.

  
"Just got off my piloting shift 'n had like two hours of sleep. Sorry," they mumbled.

  
"Focus. The fog is coming up," Mercedes said, not moving from her position. She had her hands on her weapons and was prepared to draw them at a moment's notice.

  
The fog wasn't too thick at first, and nothing about it, besides the faint odor of raw mana, seemed any different from natural fog. That said, just as with any fog, Luminous knew he had to be mindful with spells emitting bright light to avoid temporarily blinding himself, or, at worst, reflecting some of the magic back onto himself and his allies.

  
After about thirty seconds, Mercedes seemed to sense something, and she narrowed her eyes and drew her weapons. Luminous did the same.

  
Monsters started to pour in, and visibility on the deck was deteriorating by the second. Luminous opened up a void to destroy the half dozen or so monsters in front of him that he could see. They resisted it at first, so he poured more mana and energy into the spell.

  
More monsters quickly took their place. Most of the monsters seemed to be coming from the front, and that was good. He and Mercedes could take care of those, and the less proven fighters behind them could handle the few monsters that came in from the sides.

  
Luminous let himself slip into the routine of battle. He knew he was heavily favoring darkness, but he was confident he could keep it and himself under control. The physical strain of battle was more of a problem than the magical strain. His strength and endurance had mostly recovered, but occasionally, when dodging or swinging at a monster, he'd move in a way that sent a jolt of pain through him. He could work through it, but a momentary distraction was a momentary distraction.

  
He continued on for several more minutes before he noticed that something felt _off_ in a way that it hadn't been before. He couldn't see any new threats, but he could feel that there was something out there. He paused his other spells for a moment -- Mercedes was doing a good job at keeping the front of the deck clear without his help and could keep things under control for a few seconds-- and focused on making a low diffuse light to illuminate the deck without causing too much glare.

  
He saw the chains coming a split-second before they crashed into the ship.

  
The ship rocked and shuddered, and Luminous almost lost his footing, but they remained in the air and it didn't look like anyone had been hit. Once the initial shock had faded, the first thing he felt was _fury_.

  
Chains, just like the one that had struck Lania's home. Just like the ones polluting Elluel. He would not let those icons of the Black Mage's power stand. He was going to _destroy_ those damned things above all else. He looked over at Mercedes and was going to signal his intent, but with visibility as it was, he realized he was better off trying to shout his intent over the sounds of battle.

  
"I am going to focus on the chains!" Luminous told her. She nodded her understanding.

  
"Go! I'll hold the bow."

  
Luminous turned his attention to the nearest chain first. He knew this magic, and that gave him a better idea of how to break it. He had spent some of his time in Elluel before the Alliance's signal examining the chains that had struck the land, and the ones currently embedded in the ship were no different. Other fighters might simply try to break the chains with brute force, but Luminous knew he could eliminate any trace of them by pulling at the magical weave that held them together.

  
It was counter-intuitive; he had spent so much of his life trying to banish darkness with light, but the secret to removing the chains effectively lay in the realm of dark magic.

  
He could be thorough and effective, but removing the chains was more akin to a ritual than a combat spell, so he knew he would be vulnerable. He kept himself aware enough of his surroundings and the monsters around him to avoid being hit as he worked.

  
Once he had disintegrated the first chain, he looked around at his allies.

  
Mercedes was doing fine. She didn't even look tired. That said, he noticed she was holding back, probably to avoid potentially clipping any allies not readily visible through the fog.

  
A few feet away from her, he saw the thunder breaker punch a monster with enough force to shatter its core.

  
"Beat that for style, Verk!" he challenged.

  
"Oh, you asked for it!" The younger dawn warrior was barely visible through the fog, but he saw her charge up a thrust that, by the sound of it, hit two monsters at once. He couldn't tell exactly what was going on, however, because she apparently hadn't realized that bright light in fog wasn't a very good idea. _Children..._ At least the older dawn warrior seemed to know what he was doing, and was focusing more on swordplay than magic.

  
As Luminous was making his way to the next chain, he saw a reaper out of the corner of his eye. He nearly froze. He didn't summon a reaper, so what if there was a more powerful minion of the Black Mage there with the capability to --

  
"George! Henry! Get back here!" Oh. Luminous relaxed. The battle mage had summoned the reaper, not an enemy.

  
"Just let them have their fun." Luminous turned to see the corsair shoot a monster straight through its core with her pistol, then pause to blow smoke off the barrel.

  
"If both of you are here, then who is steering the ship?"

  
"Onoras is. I heard it was rough and we need more firepower, so I came out to help." Luminous assumed she was referring to the engineer. He was a bit wary -- if the _third_ choice was piloting while they were in _very dangerous territory_ , things could easily go wrong -- but the corsair's help in battle was not unwelcome. Another person capable of attacking monsters before they landed on the deck was an invaluable resource when he was busy destroying chains.

  
Luminous made his way to his next target. The next two chains were near the stern and far away from his allies. He would need to be exceptionally careful to avoid being hit by monsters while he worked on them.

  
He realized he was not completely alone, however. Through the walls, he could hear the engineer talking to someone on the White Spear, though there was a lot of static.

  
Luminous set to work on removing the chain on the port side of the ship, but when he was about halfway through, a monster flew in. He dodged it, but lost his balance. As he tried to get his footing back, he stepped off the side of the ship, and was unable to shift his weight to his other foot in time.

  
Free-fall was a curious experience, and unexpected free-fall never failed to be _terrifying_. Fortunately, Luminous managed to keep his head and his sense of where the ship was, even as he fell through the fog, and teleported himself back up onto the deck. Once there, he sank to his knees.

  
He paused for a moment to catch his breath and steady his nerves. He hoped no one had seen that. His balance was usually decent, so losing it and plummeting who knew how far before recovering had been a shock. He supposed that, because his magical balance was so far off after working almost exclusively with Darkness for several minutes, that was affecting his physical balance as well.

  
There was no way around it. He would need to use some Light magic. Back here, he would only be blinding himself, and he had some idea how to fight with his eyes closed. He could sense the monsters, and he would know if he was falling. That would have to be enough to last him until he could take the pressure off and find his balance again.

  
Luminous let time slide away as he took down monster after monster, feeling their darkness dissipate in the face of his light. He attacked the chains, as well, but whittling them down with light magic was a slow process. He remained on the deck of the ship, it seemed, though he did nearly trip over what was probably a rope at one point.

  
"Luminous!?" He froze when he heard Mercedes call out his name, and opened his eyes to see her standing on top of the cabin, looking down at him.

  
"What is happening?"

  
"I didn't see or hear from you for a while, and there was a bright light from the back of the ship." Mercedes paused for a second to turn and shoot a monster behind her. "Are you okay?"

  
"I'm fine." His head was clearing and he was feeling a bit better. "What about you?" She was looking a bit worn, and her hair was tangled.

  
"We're holding our own for now, but we don't know how much more of this we can take. Are you sure you're okay?"

  
"Yes."

  
"Good. Come on, we need you back up front."

  
"Of course." He followed Mercedes back to the bow of the ship. He could neither see nor sense any new chains, so that was a relief, at least, and the ones in the back of the ship had been severed, although they had left remains. Luminous supposed he would have to clean those up later.

  
He had only just gotten settled and found his part of the deck to defend when he sensed something _very wrong_. He froze for an instant and looked over in the general direction the feeling was coming from, though he knew he most likely wouldn't be able to see whatever it was through the fog.

  
For better or for worse, after a few seconds, he _could_ see what it was.

  
_Oh, no._

  
A giant eye-like monster was emitting an eerie glow as it gathered power. They were too far away to do anything about it, but Luminous knew deep down that _it_ could do something about _them_.

  
Time seemed to slow down. He focused all his strength and mana into a temporary shield around the ship and stepped toward Mercedes, hoping that even if his magic wasn't enough, he could physically shield her.

  
The other crew members weren't idiots, and Luminous had a split-second to notice them readying their own magical and physical defenses.

  
Then the attack hit.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I regret bringing my OCs into this, but the plot has already been written (up until the end of Labyrinth) and it's too late to turn back now.  
> Please bear with me.  
> Speaking of OCs, I'm leaving this here for reference, because names are hard to keep track of:  
> Verk - the younger dawn warrior  
> Rataalis - the older dawn warrior  
> Revenis - the thunder breaker  
> Eres - the temple keeper  
> Onoras - the engineer  
> ??? - the battle mage  
> Roxy - the corsair (a friend's character, not mine)

Mercedes blinked and rubbed her eyes as she pulled herself up off the deck. She didn't know how long she had been disoriented, but it couldn't have been more than a few seconds. Between Luminous's barrier and her own wards, she had gone into the attack well-protected.

  
She would be fine. But what about Luminous? He had run in front of her at the last second. She would feel terrible if he had been hurt trying to protect her! As soon as her vision cleared, she saw that he was still sprawled on the deck and not moving. A wave of fear began to sweep over her, but fell apart when she heard him groan. She paused with her hand almost brushing his shoulder.

  
"Are you okay?" She asked.

  
"I will live." Luminous winced and pulled himself up to a sitting position. He turned to her, and his expression softened from pain to concern. "Are you all right?"

  
"I'm fine." She had a bit of a headache and her ears were ringing, but she was nearly certain those were from the light and the sound, respectively, and not a sign of any sort of head injury. She didn't feel dizzy or nauseated, after all. She didn't seem to be injured otherwise, either.

  
She looked around the deck to try to evaluate the situation. The fog was gone, for now -- probably driven away by the sheer force of the attack. Even with the fog gone, she couldn't see the eye-like monster, and she wasn't sure if she should be relieved it was gone or worried that it was somewhere else she didn't know about. The monsters were also gone, fortunately; she assumed those had been collateral damage in the attack.

  
In the middle of the deck, the battle mage was helping the corsair to her feet. Closer to the bow, Rataalis was kneeling down next to Revenis, who was lying on his back on the deck and not moving. Verk stood behind Rataalis, wringing her hands. Eresiine was running over to them.

  
That was all of the crew accounted for, except for the engineer. Still, something was wrong, and she couldn't rest until she figured out what it was.

  
In the meantime, she needed to know if the ship itself had taken any serious damage. Since she was well aware she knew precious little about the Alliance's ships, she would need to ask for someone else's expertise.

  
"Verk!" Out of all the crew, she seemed to be the least occupied. Verk's head snapped up and her expression shifted from worry to attentiveness.

  
"Yes, ma'am?"

  
"Get me a status report on the ship."

  
"I'll, uh, ask Onoras."

  
"Go do that."

  
"Yes, ma'am." As Verk ran off, Mercedes turned her attention back to Luminous. He had hardly moved since sitting up, and he looked tired and unfocused. Mercedes hoped that was only due to burning up so much mana and energy in the battle and then shielding the ship and not a sign of anything serious. She looked him over, trying to see if he had any injuries that they hadn't noticed. She noticed him doing the same for her. Fortunately, it seemed he was fine.

  
Then she realized exactly what was missing and what seemed wrong.

  
The fog was gone, but she hadn't noticed any other ships.

  
Worry seized her, and she was just about to run inside when she noticed Verk step out of the cabin, carrying the communications device with her.

  
"What's our status!?" Mercedes demanded. She could hear and feel Luminous get to his feet to stand just behind her.

  
"Our propulsion is damaged. Onoras is trying to fix it, but for now, we can't keep up with the fleet's regular speed," _The fleet, does she even know what happened to the fleet?_ "But, well, as you can see, we can stay in the air. Looks like there was some superficial damage, too."

  
"Wasn't the engineer piloting?" Luminous asked, before Mercedes could interrogate Verk further.

  
"Yeah, but the battle mage --" Verk wrinkled her nose, and Mercedes suddenly remembered what Revenis had said about her "--and the corsair have taken over again and are trying to see if he broke anything."

  
"I thought engineers were supposed to _fix_ things, not --" Luminous started.

  
"Hold that thought. You brought the comms with you?" If she could get in contact with someone -- anyone -- then maybe some of the worry would subside.

  
"Roxy told me that they don't need it, and if any messages come in they're probably going to be more directed at whoever is in charge of the ship than whoever is piloting." Verk looked between Luminous and Mercedes, as if trying to figure out exactly which one of them was technically in command.

  
"Give it to me." Mercedes held out her hand. As soon as Verk gave it to her, she tried to turn it on, but nothing happened. She tried again. Still nothing. "Was it damaged in the blast?" She _wanted_ to hurl it at the deck, but such a display of temper was not befitting of the ruler of the elves and also very likely to be counterproductive.

  
"It doesn't appear to be physically damaged, but the sheer magical forces it was exposed to might have caused an overload," Luminous contributed from over her shoulder.

  
"Can you fix it?"

  
"I admit this is not my area of expertise, but I am willing to give it an attempt."

  
"Well, you have a better shot at fixing it than I do." Mercedes handed it over to him, and tried to force herself to be patient while he looked it over.

  
He looked puzzled, but the fact that he was visibly engaging the device with magic instead of just looking at it gave her some hope that he would be able to fix it. She just wished that he would be able to fix it _soon_! She needed to know if the other heroes were all right, if nothing else. It couldn't just be their ship that had survived, surely! While she was more than willing to face down the Black Mage with just Luminous at her side, she didn't want to lose anyone else. Worry and impatience chased each other around and around in her head.

  
After what felt like an agonizingly long time, Luminous let his magic fade. He offered the device back to Mercedes with a slight nod. She snatched it back, turned it on, and, after a few seconds of fiddling, opened communications with the White Spear.

  
"White Spear, this is Mercedes, do you read us?" She tried to keep her tone even.

  
"We read you, what's your status?" Good. At least Cygnus's ship was still standing.

  
"The ship is damaged, but we're still in the air." Mercedes glanced over the deck again. Eres and Rataalis had each pulled one of Revenis's arms over their shoulders and were helping him inside. "We have wounded, but no deaths."

  
"Good. Stay there and wait for orders; we're waiting on reports from the rest of the fleet and the results of Edea's preliminary investigation." Mercedes was grateful the connection was audio only, because she was unable to keep the fury off her face. Wait for orders!? There was nothing to do!? No information on other ships or the monster at all!? Almost all of her worry was gone, replaced by rage.

  
She didn't bother acknowledging she had heard the message. She closed communications and fought the urge to throw the device to the ground and shoot at it.

  
"...Mercedes?" Luminous looked concerned.

  
"They're useless," she spat. She shoved the device at Luminous. "We need to contact the other heroes directly. I'm too mad to think straight. You do it." She paused. "Please."

  
"Very well." Mercedes was torn. She wanted to hear from the other heroes directly, but she was just so _angry_. She knew her anger was out of proportion to the irritant, but that didn't change how she felt. She needed to burn off some of that energy and cool her head before she did something she would regret.

  
Luminous could handle things. He seemed to be keeping a clear head, though Mercedes doubted that would last through getting a report out of Phantom. But since she imagined he'd save that for last, she would have some time to pull herself together before she had to pull Luminous and Phantom away from each others' throats.

  
If she remembered correctly, there were still some chain remnants near the stern. She'd take her aggression out on those, then come back.

  
Several dozen arrows later, she felt calm enough to think again.

  
At least, the calm lasted until she saw the expression on Luminous's face. He wasn't flustered after squabbling with Phantom. Far from it. His face was almost completely blank.

  
"What happened? How are they?" What little anger remained crystallized into fear.

  
"Evan is fine. Aran and Eunwol reported taking heavy damage from chains, but they were spared the worst of the blast. I was, however, unable to reach Phantom."

  
"We have to say if he's okay."

  
"We were told to wait for orders." Hearing it from whoever had answered on the White Spear was one thing. Hearing it from Luminous? It _hurt_ , more than it made her angry, but it definitely did both.

  
"I'm _not_ just going to sit around here!" Mercedes turned to scan the deck for crew members. "Hey!" She didn't know the battle mage's name, but got their attention nonetheless. "Find out from the engineer if the ship can handle a descent," she ordered.

  
"Yes, ma'am." They blinked away, and Mercedes turned back to Luminous.

  
"Mercedes, you can't be serious! We aren't assured of our own safety, we don't know what attacked us or if it will strike again, and we must wait to hear back from the White Spear before we do anything lest we dive in blind." He sounded upset. She didn't want to have this fight, she didn't want to hurt him, but she knew what she wanted, and, more importantly, what she _didn't_ want.

  
"Listen. I'm sick of waiting for orders and information. The Alliance has been _terribly_ stingy with information ever since we got on this ship. We don't know a lot of things. But what I _do_ know is that Phantom could be in danger or even dying and I'm not going to stand for that."

  
"We cannot risk ourselves and everyone else on this ship simply because we _might_ be able to help Phantom, who could _possibly_ be in danger."

  
"Damn it, Luminous, I know you don't like him, but I can't stand to have another person die on me! Besides, I'm not going to go unless I hear we can handle a descent, though you can be sure I'd still _want_ to --" Mercedes paused as the battle mage blinked back to where they had been standing. "What's the report?"

  
"Onoras said he wouldn't recommend it until he's had at least a little longer to work on repairs."

  
"How long is 'a little while'?" Mercedes asked.

  
"From what I've heard from the knights, with him, 'a little while' is anywhere between 'fifteen minutes' and 'two hours plus at least one beer break'."

  
"Well, make sure he understands the urgency of the situation."

  
"Yes, ma'am." The battle mage blinked away again.

  
"Mercedes, why are you doing this?"

  
"Because I'm not going to lose anyone else."

  
"Is Phantom so important that you're willing to risk everything -- our lives, the alliance's cohesion, the mission -- just for a chance to rescue him?" Luminous's voice was quiet. He didn't have any of the anger or jealousy that had made their way into his tone earlier. Mercedes paused. Maybe he was right. Maybe she hadn't cooled her head _enough_ and she was acting impulsively. But she had already committed publicly to her course of action, and she couldn't backtrack without seeming weak. Beyond that, she was confident that she and Luminous could stand against almost anything the Black Mage threw at them, and she was nearly certain that they wouldn't come to any harm if they went after Phantom.

  
"... Yes." She tried to sound confident, even though she was looking down so she didn't have to see the hurt on Luminous's face. The anger was draining away now, leaving bitterness, sorrow, and guilt.

  
"I am not going to further challenge you and divide the crew, but I urge you to reconsider. Phantom, for all his... _faults_..." Mercedes knew that Luminous wanted to say something a bit stronger there, "... has a way of getting himself out of whatever trouble he has gotten himself into."

  
"I know that." She didn't want to keep fighting, either. She wasn't normally like this. She was supposed to be thinking of her people, of Elluel. And of Luminous, and... his people. Perhaps the stress of the situation was bringing out the worst in her.

  
"Beyond that, we do not even know where his ship was last seen."

  
"You're right, we'll have to look." Mercedes glanced out over the railing. "And we'll have to do it soon, before the fog rolls in again. Let's hope the engineer doesn't need that beer break."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My life is currently on fire and will likely remain that way for several weeks. I'm going to do my best to get chapter 5 up within a week or so, but no promises.


	5. Chapter 5

Luminous wouldn't go as far as to say that he would rather be doing anything else, but there were very few things he would hate more than going against orders to rescue _Phantom_ of all people.

  
Still, for Mercedes's sake and to not cause conflict among the crew, he would go along with it.

  
The fog was starting to roll back in, but they had gotten the last reported location of Phantom's ship from a crew member on Aran and EunWol's ship. Luminous hated how they had avoided contacting the White Spear for information and had instead been working with the other heroes and their crews.

  
As much as he preferred doing things on his own terms -- or, failing that, with the familiar company of the other heroes -- he knew that they _were_ technically a part of the Alliance and had agreed to cooperate and follow orders. He hated going back on his word. What they were doing now felt like disobedience, disloyalty, and possibly betrayal.

  
He would much rather turn his back on the Alliance than on Mercedes. That didn't mean he liked it.

  
For better or for worse, their ship hadn't been attacked by monsters since the blast, so he had nothing to vent his frustrations on. Instead, he had been standing around on the deck, watching for any possible threats, while Mercedes searched for any sign of Phantom's ship and the corsair worked on minor repairs.

  
"I think I see his ship down there," Mercedes said. Luminous uncrossed his arms and walked over to the railing so he could see where she was pointing. There were some sharp rocks visible through the waves, and broken boards littered the surrounding area. He couldn't see anyone, and he hoped that was just because of the poor visibility.

  
He had to admit it didn't look promising. If that had been Phantom's ship... Luminous pushed back a wave of something that felt suspiciously like worry. He turned his attention to Mercedes. She was gripping the railing tightly with one hand and her expression was tight, but she was keeping her composure.

  
"Roxy, you know the ship better than I do," Mercedes started, beckoning the corsair over. "I'm guessing we can't land there?"

  
"That's probably a terrible idea," the corsair agreed.

  
"I could teleport us down there and then bring us back." Luminous hated saying it and didn't want to extend the offer. He tried not to let his bitterness show _too_ much. Mercedes already knew he wasn't happy. But if this was what it took to give her peace of mind, he would do it.

  
"That's probably for the best. But are you sure? Isn't that a lot of work?" Luminous gave it some thought. He could teleport himself and Mercedes there and back easily enough, and bring Phantom back as well -- assuming he was cooperative, of course -- but he wasn't feeling up to transporting an entire crew. He was capable of it, but moving that many people would be incredibly mana-intensive, and he could not risk being drained when they didn't know what the Black Mage might throw at them next.

  
He had already made the offer, however, and there was no taking it back. Besides, this plan was likely the safest for everyone involved.

  
"It's nothing I cannot handle. So yes, I am sure."

  
"All right. I'm ready when you are." Mercedes looked determined. Luminous held out his hand. It was easier to teleport others when in physical contact with them, and beyond that, he wanted the reassurance. She took his hand. Luminous focused on what looked to be the place on the rocks with the steadiest footing, closed his eyes, and shifted.

  
It seemed he hadn't chosen the best spot to teleport to, because it took him half a second to find his balance. Mercedes also seemed to lose her footing, and braced herself against him while she found it again. They took a few moments to get their bearings back. He didn't want to let go, and apparently, she didn't want to either.

  
"It's good to have company in times like this," Luminous startled when he heard Phantom's voice. Mercedes stood up straight and pulled away from him but didn't let go of his hand.

  
"Phantom?" Mercedes asked. The fog was thicker than it had been up on the ship, but Luminous could make out that Phantom was some five meters in front of them, reclining on some rocks. He was clearly _trying_ to look nonchalant, but Luminous could see the discomfort on his face. Not even Phantom could make jagged rocks look comfortable, it seemed. Since Phantom didn't look seriously hurt, Luminous felt little guilt over taking some joy in seeing him humbled. "Phantom, are you okay? Do you need help?"

  
"I'm fine now that I've seen you. All I need is the sunshine of your face." Luminous saw Mercedes roll her eyes. He tamped down irritation. They all knew Phantom wasn't being serious.

  
"Very funny. Now give me an honest answer." Mercedes pulled away to cross her arms.

  
"A few scrapes and bruises, but I'll keep." Phantom shrugged, then winced.

  
"You're not fine," Mercedes concluded. "Luminous, can you heal him?"

  
"Absolutely not," Luminous snapped.

  
"There's no need for that," Phantom said at the same time. He pulled himself to his feet, but staggered and nearly fell. "I don't need his help."

  
"And I don't want to give it."

  
"Would you two grow up? Phantom, if you need help, there's no shame in asking for it."

  
"I will admit that wasn't my finest landing, but I'm still in one piece." Phantom dusted himself off and adjusted his hat, then rubbed his shoulder. "And after an adventure like that one, I'll take what I can get."

  
"What about your crew?" Luminous asked, trying to get himself to focus on the mission. They weren't just there for Phantom, after all.

  
"What about them? I imagine they're all enjoying the _wonderful_ presents the Black Mage left us back home."

  
"The brave men and women of the Alliance who were with you on the ship you just crashed, not your little club of sycophants." Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Mercedes facepalm.

  
"Ah, victim-blaming at its finest there. It's not like _I_ crashed the ship. I didn't do anything, in fact."

  
"Exactly. You didn't lift a single gloved finger to try to help them, did you?"

  
"Stop it," Mercedes said. "There could be people who need help."

  
"I wouldn't count on it." Phantom sighed. "I haven't heard from or seen anyone until you two showed up."

  
"We should still search," Mercedes said. Luminous nodded his agreement. While he wasn't sure how many people he could safely teleport back to the ship, or if they had resources to care for many others, he still wanted to help.

  
"Unless you can search underwater -- if that even is water, I doubt it -- there's no point." Luminous saw Phantom lean on his cane as if it were an actual walking stick for the first time. He wondered if he was more seriously injured than he let on. He felt a brief flash of worry, but pushed it away. If Phantom wasn't asking for help and wasn't actively dying in front of him, it wasn't his problem.

  
"Luminous, do you think you can...?" Mercedes asked. Luminous thought for a minute. He was used to magically detecting _monsters_ , not people. Still, it was worth a try. Luminous focused on his surroundings and tried to sense any irregularities in the world around him, but the sense of swirling Erda around him was too powerful for him to detect anything else. Nothing living, at least. He felt a chill. "... Luminous?" Mercedes must have noticed his expression. He didn't want to say Phantom was right. Instead, he shook his head. "... Oh."

  
He felt a bit bad, but this was war, and losses happened. He couldn't have done anything, after all. He and Mercedes had arrived too late to do anything. Phantom might have been able to help or save someone before, but that window had passed. Part of him wanted to call Phantom out on his inaction, but Mercedes had told him to stop it, and it would feel more petty than he was willing to be.

  
"... If there is nothing we can do here, it... may be best if we return before the fog becomes too thick and our ship leaves without us," Luminous suggested. Almost half the crew were Cygnus Knights, after all, and in her absence, would be loyal to Cygnus's orders over Mercedes's. "Beyond that, it's high time we contacted the fleet again." Mercedes gave him a _look_ , but didn't argue.

  
"... Fine. Take us back."

  
Teleporting was easier when he could see the destination. If Luminous squinted, he could just barely make out the ship above them. He offered his hand to Mercedes again, but decided that he was sure as hell _not_ touching Phantom.

  
"You'd better be ready," Luminous told him.

  
"Please, I don't need you rescuing me." Phantom drew a card, and Luminous suspected he was about to teleport himself. Luminous felt a bit petty, so he chose that exact moment to teleport them before Phantom had the chance.

  
The look of shock and confusion on Phantom's face as they arrived back on the deck was priceless.

  
Luminous looked around the ship to see if anything had changed. The corsair was still working on repairs, but had grabbed a second toolbox. While they had been gone, the temple keeper had stepped out on the deck. It was difficult to read her expression under her hood, but when she looked at them, her face seemed to light up.

  
"Oh, good! You found Phantom. Did you happen to see anyone else?"

  
"We found no other survivors," Luminous informed her. It hurt. He knew he shouldn't have felt bad. There was nothing he could have done, and physically searching instead of magically scanning would have been too dangerous. But he knew from the way she asked that it was going to bother her.

  
"... I see. I'll let them know."

  
"Them?" Luminous hadn't wanted to pry and possibly make things worse, so he was grateful that Mercedes had asked for clarification instead of him.

  
"We -- the Cygnus Knights and I -- hav-- had a brother, friend, and community member on that ship." She reached up to hold onto her necklace, but otherwise kept her expression and tone neutral.

  
"Oh." Luminous noticed that Phantom looked much less smug than usual, but couldn't find any joy in that. He wasn't sure what he should say. An 'I'm sorry' would seem shallow.

  
"The... Alliance will want to know." It was the best he could do. "I'll tell them." Maybe it would ease his conscience. Besides, someone did have to give a report on what had happened, and he imagined that neither Mercedes nor Phantom wanted to.

  
The sooner they got through this and returned their focus to the Black Mage, the better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those familiar with my OCs, Marelan is the one that Eres was talking about. And now he's mad at me because this is the third time I've killed him off offscreen. He needs to stop being a baby about it. All my other OCs get killed off left and right all the time too, frequently without dignity or purpose, and they don't complain.
> 
> My life is still on fire, but I'm itching to get through this and get to the drama, tragedy, and long-awaited actual *romance* that I have planned for Labyrinth, so I'm hoping I can get Chapter 6 up in a few days.


	6. Chapter 6

"Mercedes, what the hell were you thinking!?" Mercedes realized she had never heard Neinheart swear before. She must have made him furious. Of course she had; as soon as they had turned the communications back on, Neinheart had personally seized control from whatever shocked and unlucky crew member on the White Spear had originally answered. Luminous hadn't even had time to start giving his report.

  
Luminous was standing right next to her, but Neinheart's fury was clearly focused on her and her alone. She imagined one of their crew members must have contacted the White Spear and explained that going to rescue Phantom had been Mercedes' idea. It had probably been one of the Cygnus Knights. Of the three of them, she suspected Rataalis.

  
"We can't afford to leave people behind. We're never going to be able to beat the Black Mage if we don't look out for our allies." Mercedes put her hands on her hips.

  
"You think I don't know that!? The Empress and her champion agree, and we've begun rescue efforts, but you should have waited for orders! We can't just have ships going off in any direction as they please at the drop of a hat! As a leader yourself, I'm sure I don't have to tell you what that does for discipline, cohesion, and morale!"

  
"I'm not going to sit around waiting for orders at a time like this, not when your people couldn't be bothered to even give us the most basic of information!"

  
"We were investigating; we had no information to give! We value the Heroes as members of the Alliance, and --"

  
"Enough of your bullshit, Neinheart. You 'value' us? Anyone can plainly see that we're nothing compared to your champion. What's so special about them, anyway?" She knew that some jealousy had crept into her voice, even if she didn't want it. And she knew it wasn't directly relevant to the matter at hand, but she finally had direct contact with Neinheart, not just someone from the White Spear, and she was going to use this opportunity to the fullest to address the things that had been bothering her since the beginning. She had Luminous behind her, and even though she knew he didn't completely agree with her, his presence gave her strength.

  
"I'm sure that will be made clear to you in --"

  
"ENOUGH!" Mercedes was one step away from shooting, even though she knew that shooting a hologram would do no good. "STOP withholding information. If you truly value us as allies, the least you can do is TELL us what's happening." Neinheart met her glare evenly and unflinchingly. Of course he wasn't intimidated. But at least he seemed to be listening.

  
"Very well." Neinheart took a deep breath, raised his eyebrows, and closed his eyes. "I had hoped to protect you --" Neinheart glanced at Luminous "-- but if you insist. Since you've been off on your _very important_ mission, you might have missed the most recent news, so I shall cover that as well." _Hurry up, hurry up!_ His sarcastic drawl on 'very important' only worsened her impatience. "The eye is the cause of the fog, which in turn makes us easier prey for monsters and chains. On that note, if you have any chain remnants on your ship, you'd best focus on removing them."

  
"We took care of that some time ago," Luminous said.

  
"Good. And to fulfill any curiosity, they are drawing more monsters to the ships that were unlucky enough to be struck, and take up our time and resources by occupying our ships." Neinheart gave Mercedes a hard glare. "Which is truly unfortunate, as we will need all our ships to cooperate to see us through this situation before the eye opens again."

  
"So why haven't you ordered an attack?" Mercedes asked.

  
"I have. You're simply not a part of it." Mercedes wondered if Neinheart intended that as a punishment. If he had, a part of her wanted to join the fight just to spite him. "Some ships have been instructed to begin rescue efforts -- and yours WOULD have been if you had waited mere minutes more! -- and others have been sent ahead to the last known location of the eye to stop it."

  
"Why were we not instructed to attack? You know that we have more experience fighting the Black Mage and his minions than anyone else," Luminous said.

  
"Well, to put it simply, it's because of you," Neinheart addressed Luminous.

  
"Me?"

  
"Yes. And your... situation."

  
"Explain." Luminous sounded irritated and defensive, and took a half-step closer to Mercedes.

  
"We're sending the Empress's champion to fight the eye."

  
"I could have guessed that, and you _still_ haven't told us what's so special about them," Mercedes grumbled.

  
"Patience." If Neinheart was so smart, surely he'd know that asking someone for 'patience' or to 'calm down' almost always made things worse, not better. Still, since she was finally getting information out of him and she didn't want to ruin it, she decided to hold her tongue. "We've entrusted the champion with the Transcendence Stone."

  
"... Oh." Luminous was clearly unhappy.

  
"And, as I'm sure you can imagine, we'd rather keep that away from you, the Empress, and Alpha and Beta, to avoid any possible... mishaps." Neinheart winced. "I never did get the chance to thank you for your, ah, _contributions_ to human understanding. I hate to think what might have happened to the Empress if we had brought the stone to Ereve without first learning from you that it's a potential hazard to transcendental beings."

  
"But if we are going to be fighting the Black Mage alongside your champion..." Luminous narrowed his eyes.

  
"... You'd better not keep us out of the fight then," Mercedes warned.

  
"I don't intend to. You know what you're up against, and since it will -- ideally -- be the final battle, we won't have to worry about keeping you out of trouble by then."

  
"Keeping us out of trouble. Is that how you see it?" Luminous sounded almost as angry as Mercedes felt.

  
"We're trying to keep you _alive_ so you can be of _use_ when the time comes."

  
"That's worse!" Mercedes protested.

  
"But at least it's honest," Luminous muttered.

  
"Do you think we're useless until then? Is that it?" Mercedes demanded.

  
"Not at all; quite the contrary. But imagine the peoples' spirits if they did not have their heroes at their side when they were facing the greatest threat the world has ever seen."

  
"Trust us, we can handle ourselves. You don't need to babysit or coddle us." _We've been here long before you were born, and we will be here long after you are gone,_ Mercedes thought, but decided against saying it aloud. "And you still haven't said anything about the champion. So what about them? I know they were instrumental at Black Heaven and have been an incredible asset along the Arcane River, but why assemble the greatest heroes of Maple World _and_ Grandis if you're just going to put almost everything in the hands of one adventurer?"

  
"Before I get to that, there are two other matters that need to be seen to. First, I heard you two went to aid Phantom. Were you able to find him? If so, how is he, and what became of his ship and crew." _Stop stalling!_

  
"We found him. He has only minor injuries; the temple keeper onboard is seeing to him now. We were, unfortunately, unable to help any of his crew, and I doubt there is any salvaging the ship," Luminous explained.

  
"I see." Neinheart wrote something down on his clipboard.

  
"So what's the second thing?" Mercedes asked.

  
"Are you two in a private place?"

  
"There is no privacy on a ship this small, Neinheart," Mercedes grumbled.

  
"Allow me to rephrase that, then. Are you somewhere the crew members frequent?" Mercedes thought for a moment. They were in one of the side rooms and it was just the two of them, but they were right next to the control room and the walls were thinner than she would have liked.

  
"If what you're about to discuss is sensitive information, I could ward the room to deter eavesdroppers," Luminous offered.

  
"Please do that, then."

  
"So. Talk to us," Mercedes said, after giving Luminous a few seconds.

  
"Well, you see, there are some... curious things, in the Black Mage's writings we've uncovered."

  
"What kinds of things?" Mercedes asked.

  
"It's almost like a prophecy... or a promise. If we're interpreting it correctly, it seems that our champion -- who has been referred to by our enemies as the Adversary -- has a major role to play in the battle against the Black Mage, a role only they can fill."

  
"You don't seem like the type of man to rely on prophecy," Luminous said, saying aloud what Mercedes had been thinking.

  
"It is true I'd rather rely on my wits and observations than on interpretation and faith, but we are fighting a being who might as well be a god. You two both know his power firsthand, and I shouldn't have to tell you we're little match for him even with the combined strength of all our forces. So if prophecy is all we have, then we will use it. And rest assured that while we are giving the champion all they need, we still need your strength. Not just your strength in battle, but also your reputations and charisma to inspire the rest of the Alliance." Neinheart gave Mercedes a pointed glance. "And that is easier to do if you cooperate." She glared right back.

  
"And cooperating is easier if you communicate with us and treat us as allies instead of unseeing pawns. If you'd just talked to us from the beginning, we wouldn't have had any of these problems," she said.

  
"It was sensitive information, and I'm sure you can imagine why I don't want the exact details of the situation becoming common knowledge. Neither of you are stupid, after all. And on that note, you still should have known better than to rush off like that without any information or orders."

  
"And you should have known better than to think that we'd leave our allies behind without good reason." Mercedes hoped Luminous would not take that opportunity to snipe at Phantom and weaken her argument with Neinheart. "So. We have information. Finally. What are our orders now?"

  
"Wait. If all goes well, the champion and the forces I sent with them should bring the eye down soon and, with that, clear the fog. Then we can see what we are up against, and further strategize from there. I will send word to your ship as soon as we reach any decisions."

  
"I'll hold you to that." Mercedes looked at Luminous to see if he wanted to add anything before turning off the communications. Once they were off, she took a few deep breaths.

  
"Mercedes?"

  
"Well, that was more difficult than it had to be. How do you feel about the champion being the 'Adversary'?" She wasn't sure how much she wanted to discuss. She wanted to talk this over with Luminous and see how he was feeling, but she also didn't want the crew to overhear and wasn't sure if any wards Luminous might have put up were still in place. Neinheart was right in not wanting it to be public knowledge, after all. People needed a hero -- or heroes -- to rally behind, but it would do more harm than good if they felt like their contributions would be meaningless by comparison.

  
"Well, we are still going to fight the Black Mage. It does not matter who contributes the most or who lands the final blow. I see no issue. How do you feel about it?"

  
"I'm not sure, honestly. I don't put too much stake in prophecy, _especially_ if it was written by the _Black Mage_ himself."

  
"I'm not keen on relying on prophecy, either. Beyond that, it's possible it's incorrect. Neinheart did not even give us a direct quotation to let us interpret on our own." Mercedes was going to ask Luminous if he thought he could do better than Neinheart, but decided against it. He clearly didn't like being reminded of his origins, even when they could be useful. "And whether or not the champion is destined to end the Black Mage, our plans do not change."

  
"I suppose. And at least we finally got some straight answers out of Neinheart. I wished he had just _told_ us, though, instead of trying to protect us." Mercedes sighed. "I can trust the Alliance a bit more now. We can work with them, and the crew, and our old friends, and see this through. No matter what the Black Mage has in store for us, we'll get through this together."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clear up any possible confusion, I don't know who the champion is. I don't intend on having them onscreen, so I see no need to flesh them out or give them a personality. I came back to Maplestory from WoW after all sorts of 'chosen one' and 'champion' crap and I am saltier than the Dead Sea, so it's for the best if I address the champion as little as possible. I can't *avoid* acknowledging them -- I'm not going to hurl canon into the sun until I cover the events of Limina -- but I'm trying to leave their identity as open to interpretation as possible.
> 
> Thank you very much for reading! I can't wait to see you all in the sequel!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading! Special thanks to those who leave kudos or message me comments. Really gives me inspiration to keep going!
> 
> Thanks to:  
> -Satsuha, for getting me into this ship  
> -Roxy, for letting me portray her character in this story  
> -My good friends on Discord, for putting up with me as I brainstorm and whine


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